Contender
by khu-zay
Summary: People say you don't know what you have until it's gone. But Barbara always knew what she had, she just never expected it to leave.


**A/N Just a small drabble I came up with while reading quiet-raindrop's story "In Which" chapter 17. Credit to quiet-raindrop for the telephone conversation. Please R &R! Also tell me if I should continue it :)**

Barbara knows she's being stupid. She knows that it's all in her head, that Robin would never do that on purpose. That Dick would never do that to her on purpose. But that doesn't help ease the pain all that much.

Ever since Robin and a few other sidekicks had started that team, she and her friend hadn't been talking as much as they used to. Before, patrol would be jokes, and giggles, and fun. Now, it's just her her staring coldly at the east side of Gotham as Batman gave her rough orders.

Even outside of the cowl, the new team had changed her life. While her and Dick still ate lunch sitting at the top of their tree, and still laughed about Mrs. Grett's haggle tooth, it just wasn't the same. Before, they would do everything together. They would at least take a walk through the park everyday. Before, they'd have little sleepovers and build forts, they'd go to all the festivals together, and they'd simply see each other. Before, he had made her feel special.

You know that saying "You don't know what you have until it's gone?"

Well, Barbara always knew what she had. She always knew of how Dick's eyes light up when he saw her, how his mouth formed little dimples when he smiled, or how his hair would frame his cheek bones when it wasn't gelled. Barbara always knew what she had, she just never thought she would lose it.

She and Dick had been best friends since he moved in with Bruce. She had been his first friend, and they've been through so much together. It had made no sense that something as silly as a team would pull them apart. She tried to ignore it at first, because it was so unbelievable. But a phone call she had gotten a few nights before made her simply have to face the facts.

"Robin!" Barbara smiled. She wasn't used to him calling her much anymore, much less so late at night.

"Bat...girl?"

"Yeah, who else? Silly."

Robin paused.

"Oh...uh" Was what was heard coming from his end.

"How's everything been? I've seen a lot on the news. The Justice League has been really busy, I can't imagine-"

"Listen BG, I kinda meant to call Batman. Your names are right next to each other on my phone, sorry."

"Oh, well that's okay. I have a bit of time to spare." She said hopefully.

"Yeah, well, I kinda don't."

There was another awkward pause.

"I see."

"Sorry, I'll try to call again I just-"

Barbara heard someone talking in the background, and Robin laughed.

"I got to get a hold of Batman, okay?"

"Yeah, I understand. Keep safe and everything. I miss y-"

"Bye."

Barbara cried herself to sleep that night.

So to say, Barbara wasn't very happy. She really did like Dick. She just couldn't help it - back when her crush actually formed, they were best friends. Now, it seemed like a lingering schoolgirl crush on the jackass popular boy.

Ever since she had been forced to realize that he doesn't have as much time for her as he did before, she tried harder. She realized that if she wanted his attention, she'd have to strive to be the best she could be. She started studying the Bialyan language, one that she had heard of from one of the team's missions. She also started to train with Catwoman, as she hoped it would strengthen her agility. She started studying villain history more often than previous. She also keep track with the bat signal - she even got there before Batman!

It didn't take long before Batman started to notice her improvements. It started pretty minor, with small complements during training. It quickly escalated to him sending me to Black Canary for evaluation to join the team.

Barbara was proud of herself, of course, but she was more blinded by her goal. She wanted Robin's attention. Even if it wasn't romantically, she wanted their friendship to be the same as it was before.

So when her evaluation went well, and she made it onto the team, she expected Robin to be just as giddy as she was. However, all she achieved was a pat on the back while Martian Manhunter's niece showed her around the headquarters. As she followed the Martian, she noticed Robin talking to a girl in a magician getup.

Barbara supposed she was just a contender in the war for his attention. And she was prepared to continue the fight.


End file.
